A Proposal to Supplement Disordered Eating Interventions with Self-Compassion Training for Adult Women Introduction A tenet of Buddhist philosophy for centuries, self-compassion has recently emerged as a promising intervention in Western Psychology with the potential to yield greater life satisfaction, social connectedness, emotional intelligence, and happiness while minimizing anxiety, depression, shame, fear of failure, and burnout (Barnard & Curry, 2011). In Buddhist tradition, a self-compassionate individual responds to his/her personal suffering with wisdom, loving-kindness, and mindfulness that extends beyond the self to all others who are suffering (Reyes, 2011). The Western definition of self-compassion derives mainly from the work …show more content…
1125). As evidence accumulated correlating self-compassion with wellness, researchers asked whether and how self-compassion could be increased and whether that increase would have clinical relevance. Due to the high amount of shame experienced by women with disordered eating (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998), several studies examine the complex relationship between levels of shame and self-compassion, body image perceptions, and the effect on eating behavior (i.e., Ferreira, Pinto-Gouveia, & Duarte, 2013; Albertson, Neff, & Dill-Shackleford, 2014; Kelly, Carter, & Borairi, 2014). Pereira & Alvarenga (2007) define normal …show more content…
Self-compassion reduces binge eating and body image concerns and is associated with lower levels of shame and less severe eating disorder pathology (Kelly, Carter, & Zuroff, & Borairi, 2013). By assuaging self-critical responses, self-compassion protects against the negative reactions to diet-breaking reducing the need to cope by eating (Adams & Leary, 2007). It also promotes greater positive body image and reduces the guilt associated with eating “forbidden foods” (Adams & Leary, 2007). Self-compassion helps people engage in adaptive emotional regulation skills and accept unwanted parts of the self, effectively disengaging two of the common triggers of binge eating (Webb & Forman, 2013). For restrictive eaters, inducing self-compassion reduced the amount they ate after a food preload leading them to eat like non-restrictive eaters (Adams & Leary, 2007). Beyond preventing disordered eating behaviors, self-compassion promotes intuitive eating, defined by Schoenfeld & Webb (2013) as acting in accordance with one’s values in the domain of food consumption. It also lowers feelings of defensiveness and blame that block self-regulation (Terry & Leary, 2011), and reduces anxiety and depression that may cause or exacerbate disordered eating. By switching the inverse relationship between self-compassion and shame from high shame/low self-compassion to high self-compassion/low shame practitioners can help patients dissolve
The novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger depicts a journey of a young man named Holden Caulfield where he encounters many of life’s challenges. As Holden has been bouncing between schools all his life, he just recently got kicked out of his current one: Pencey Prep. He has trouble focusing in school and has experienced many traumatic events in his life, like the death of his little brother Allie. Many believe the novel should be banned, but there is an underlying message Holden is trying to communicate. Throughout Holden's journey many feel that there were ban-worthy moments, but the traits he demonstrates are most powerful: compassion, maturity/coming of age and intelligence.
Lama starts his chapter with his meaning of compassion. He shares that most “understand it mainly in the terms of empathy- our ability to enter into and, to some extent, share others’ suffering.” (Lama, 538). He describes compassion to be somewhat natural for humans but, must be continuously worked on in order to reach “great compassion” which “causes the one who is compassionate to dedicate themselves entirely to helping others overcome both their suffering and the causes of their suffering.” ( Lama, 538). However, he explains that
In the article “Self-Compassion, Stress and Coping” I found that self-compassion can have many positive outcomes when dealing with a negative situation or event. The article looks at the ways in which people who have high levels of self-compassion versus people who have low levels of self-compassion cope with stress, in doing this the researchers show the positive effect of self-compassion. As Denise mentioned compassion and mindfulness as a coping strategy come from the teachings of Buddhism.
Worsnop, R. L. (1992, December 18). Eating disorders . CQ Researcher, 2, 1097-1120. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
In a world of suffering and pain the Dalai Lama said, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive”. The Dalai Lama has become a figurehead for Buddhism worldwide for his compassion and warm smiles. Buddhism has extended beyond meditation and even monks such as the Dalai Lama. The basic concepts of compassion and mindfulness in Buddhism are being applied in the daily lives of lay people who need it the most.
Estimates say that 10 million women and one million men in the US undergo an eating disorder and those numbers are increasing daily. Eating disorders “help” with things such as; emotional pain, conflicts dealing with separation, low self-esteem, depression, or trauma. Although they commonly affect young women, the number of males has increased by over 50% in the last ten years. These disorders are complicated yet very serious. If they are not treated they can cause potential death, physical problems, and mood swings. Although the following list...
What is compassion? It has two components. One component of compassion means to put yourself in another person’s shoes, and ask yourself, What if I were that person? How would I feel? So, compassion means to develop an awareness of the suffering in another person. Another component of compassion is self-compassion, having compassion doesn’t always have to be putting everyone else before you, sometimes compassion can mean putting yourself first. Throughout generations, compassion has played an important role in many people, it’s a natural instinct within all of us. We show compassion towards our loved ones, when confronted with someone in pain, we
Many of us have often wondered if we have a moral obligation to help others we don’t know. The term moral obligation has multiple meanings but it is often referred as a belief that an act is one prescribed by a person’s principle and set of values. In the reading “The Ethic of Compassion” by the Dalai Lama, the author’s argument is about the importance of cultivating not only love but, also compassion. It is said that in terms of empathy we are able to share others suffering. This is something that just occurs naturally from our own instincts. When we enhance our sensitivity towards others it is believed that we can extend our compassion to the point where an individual feels responsibility towards other people. This causes the person to help
Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007). The social psychology of compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(3), 207-214.
Apart from the role compassion plays in the advancement of the path to Enlightenment, compassion meditation practices have been found to impact physiological pathways which are modulated by stress and are also relevant to disease development and progression. Examples of these types of compassion practices include loving-kindness (metta)...
Levine, M. & Maine, M. (2004). Some basic facts about eating disorders. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://www.brooklane.org/whitepgs
Compassion fatigue is defined as “The emotional residue or strains of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events” (The American Institute of Stress, n.d.). Compassion fatigue occurs when healthcare workers, especially those who work with patients one-on-one daily, feel the emotional stress of their jobs starting to wear on them. For example, a person who works with a cancer patient and watches that patient worsen and finally pass away, may experience great emotional pain. Dealing with stressful situations over time could also cause compassion fatigue. One way to prevent compassion fatigue is through implementation of Schwartz rounds. “Schwartz rounds are not 'problem solving'. Instead, the focus is on the emotional experiences of staff caring for patients and they allow staff to explore, in an environment that is safe and confidential, situations that confront them.” (Thompson, A. (2013). Schwartz rounds are like support groups for healthcare workers. They allow healthcare providers to share their struggles as caregivers and solve their strugg...
Self-Efficacy theory was conceptualized by Albert Bandura in 1994 and still to this day has played a part in many psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety. The purpose of my research is learn the role, if any, that self-efficacy plays in one acquiring and or recovering from an eating disorder that include anorexia, bulimia nervosa, along with treating obesity by exploring published works that are related to self-efficacy and eating disorders.
There are innumerable amounts of people in this modern society that suffer from eating disorders. Forcing to be part of a society were it is more significant to be thinner than healthier and fitter, the media perpetuates and feeds over the strong feelings that women have to be thin to be desirable. With the media purporting the standards of what a beautiful woman should look like to get into a relationship, and emphasizing how undesirable fat is, new disorders are being born. And to us comes anorexia nervosa, a new disease without precedence. Women and men suffer to attain a deception of the perfect body image until anorexia nervosa sacrifices their existence. The desire to be the perfect ideal figures that we see on TV and magazines; clusters the minds from what is reality and how it is portrayed. The difficulties living with an eating disorder are immeasurable, and hard to grasp, starvation and excessive exercise all for the achievement of the perfect physique. But is it really and achievement?!
Mental health refers to the state of individuals psychologically, emotionally and socially. Mental health affects a person’s emotions, feelings, thoughts, and sections when exposed to different situations. Furthermore, mental health is responsible for a person’s reaction to stress and other social conditions. Generally, mental health affects how a person relates to others and their ability to understand and interact with them. Therefore, problems that affect a person’s mental health affect the abilities to socialize, their feelings, moods, reaction to situations. The person experiencing mental health problem may portray different behaviors when confronted with different issues. Mental health issues have several